In addition to providing oxygen, plants are a source of food, fiber, and beauty. If you’d like to work with plants, you might want to consider one of the careers below.

• FARMER: Farmers grow and harvest food. In the United States, nearly 20 percent of all land is used to grow crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and barley. Crop farmers must prepare their land for farming and make decisions about fertilizer use, crop rotation, and pest resistance.
• PLANT PATHOLOGIST: Just as animals need doctors, so do plants. Plant pathologists are specialists in plant health. Plant diseases can have a huge economic impact. For example, from 1990 to 2000, one fungal disease destroyed $2.6 billion of wheat in the United States. Using microbiology, soil science, cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry, plant pathologists diagnose and treat plant diseases.
• BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATOR: Botanical illustrators provide visuals that help people understand and appreciate biology. Working in a museum, outdoors, in a botanical garden, or at home, botanical illustrators create images of both plants and organisms related to plants. Illustrations may be used in various locations, such as guidebooks, textbooks, or museum displays.